[Should undernutrition be corrected prior to surgery in patients with cancer of the oesophagus or cardia? (author's transl)].

A prospective study of 40 patients with cancer of the oesophage or cardia considered for surgery showed that 27 had no evidence of protein or calorie deficiency, while 13 had undernutrition. The 18 patients who benefited from ablative surgery belonged to the group with normal nutritional status; none of the undernourished patients could have benefited from resection. Only controlled studies will show whether or not correcting undernutrition is advantageous, but the number of people with both resectable tumour and corrigible undernutrition is probably very small.